


It Means The World

by Nikolaus_Chaser



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, American Sign Language, Deaf Castiel, Deaf Character, Destiel Fluff, Destiel kiss, Fluff, Human Castiel, M/M, Season 9, This is just a cute thingy I wrote for someone on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:39:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikolaus_Chaser/pseuds/Nikolaus_Chaser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Fall, Castiel loses a little more than his wings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Means The World

Castiel doesn't entirely remember his Fall. Things happened so fast after Metatron locked him out of heaven that it is hard to recall the specifics of everything that occurred that day. Mostly, he just remembers the pain. He remembers burning alive as his vessel plummeted to the earth, wings charring and turning to ash as he went. He remembers the screaming, too - his own screaming - and the loud ringing in his ears that he knows now must have been the wind. It seems bittersweet now, to think that the last thing he ever heard was something as pleasant as the wind. Castiel supposes that he should be grateful that it wasn't something worse.

He had thought, at the time, that he was going to die. Some days now he supposes he should have. Being a human is bad enough, but to be deaf as well? Dean insists that he not refer to himself as a cripple, but it is impossible not to see himself as such now. Once an angel, now a human that can't even communicate properly; it cannot be denied that he is now completely and utterly useless.

When he first wakes up after his Fall, he finds himself stranded somewhere in the middle of Oklahoma. He is in pain, he's hungry, he's thirsty, and most of all he is heartbroken. He's made a fool of himself to Metatron in heaven, and now because of him, his brothers and sisters all are locked out of Paradise. Somehow, he limps his way from the field he crashed in and finds his way to the nearest city. It's at the hospital, when a tired-eyed night shift nurse asks him his name, that he first realizes he has lost his hearing.

He picks up some sign language at one of the many homeless shelters he stays at along his way to the Bunker; he cannot remember exactly where the place was, but for some reason Tulsa seems to ring a bell. Castiel thinks it's lucky that even in his newfound human state he has retained some sort of higher brainpower, and it takes him no time at all before he has learned to carry out full conversations in sign language. Now if only he could find more people who knew it.

Dean and Sam's happiness upon his arrival at the Bunker is something that he, for some reason, never expected. Perhaps it's the fact that he's deaf now, or the looming reality that he is responsible for the fall of the angels, but it is impossible to hide his surprise at their outright affection. He bursts out sobbing the first time that Sam wraps his arms around him, and he doesn't let go until the hunter's jacket is soaked through with his tears. For the first time since his Fall he is happy of his deafness, because now he can't hear himself crying.

He finds it hard to explain his situation to Sam and Dean, despite how obvious it is that they want to take care of him. At least the Fall didn't take his voice away along with his hearing, and so he talks to them, slowly going through everything that happened in heaven and everything it resulted in on earth. He half expects for them to kick him out, once he's through explaining everything, but he is once again surprised when the brothers offer him nothing but comfort and affection. As soon as he is done telling the brothers his situation, Sam rushes off to dig up some old sign language books that he swears he saw somewhere in the Bunker archives. This leaves Dean and Cas alone in the kitchen, and the room falls into a long silence that even Cas can tell is too quiet to be comfortable. He looks away, his eyes cast downward, and prepares for Dean to scold him for his naiveté and foolishness. When he is instead met a moment later with a huge hug from the hunter and a searing kiss to his lips, he starts to think that maybe things are going to get better.

But lately, things have not been better. It's been three months since his Fall, three long months of hearing nothing but his own melancholy thoughts, and Castiel is starting to go stir-crazy in his own mind. He'd never considered himself a very talkative person before, but now that his ability to communicate easily with others has been taken away, he realizes how much he really used to enjoy conversation. Sure, he can still communicate with others, but it makes him feel like more of an inconvenience than anything else when he has to sit there and wait for Sam or Dean to scribble out their replies to his questions on a white board. 

He's taken to locking himself in his bedroom - something Dean had insisted he have, despite the fact that he spends more time in the older Winchester's room than his own - and watching Netflix movies with the subtitles on. Even the subtitles upset him, remind him of everything that he's failed at, but he supposes that it's better than nothing. 

The smell of fried chicken and mashed potatoes draws him out of his room one night, and he finds that Dean has a pan of chicken going on the stove as he mashes potatoes on the other side of the kitchen. He smiles brightly when he sees Cas, dropping the masher and wiping his hands off. Cas raises an eyebrow curiously as Dean lifts his hands, and to Castiel's surprise, begins to speak in sign language.

So far, Sam has been the only one who has shown any interest in learning sign language, and even then he's been learning at a very slow pace. He likes to practice with Castiel, but more often than not Cas isn't in the mood to practice, which means that they don't get very many lessons in. Early on, Dean had never shown any real interest in learning, so Cas had just figured he would never even try. The fact that he would go out of his way and learn it for him... Castiel feels his heart flutter and he trains his eyes on Dean's hands, watching his hands closely as they move.

'Hey, do you want to help with jumping dinner? Fuck you,' he signs sloppily, adding in a few movements at the end of his sentence that Cas doesn't recognize. He is smiling brightly at Cas and looking up at him hopefully. At first Cas isn't entirely sure how to react; is this a joke? Some sort of prank? But then he sees the genuine look on Dean's face and he realizes that, _oh shit_ , Dean is genuinely trying to sign to him.

He cracks a small smile and chuckles, stepping forward and taking Dean's hands in his own. "Dean," he pronounces slowly, as if he is unsure of his own words. After only three months of not hearing himself speak, that's what it feels like, anyway. "I'm not exactly sure what you just said, but I think you were asking me to help with dinner?"

Dean nods eagerly, his smile not wavering. Castiel chuckles.

"You just told me 'fuck you'," he says. Dean's eyes widen and he quickly pulls his hands away from Cas's, shaking his head and looking down at his hands, as if they have somehow betrayed him. Cas laughs, grabbing Dean's hands again and then pulling him in for a chaste kiss. Dean smiles against his lips and pulls him in closer, pushing his tongue into Cas's mouth and kissing him fiercely. 

They kiss for a while, leaning against the kitchen counter; their tongues wandering each other's mouths; hands grip at each other's waists. Castiel finally forces Dean away when the smell of burning oil hits his nose, and he gestures towards the stove when Dean pouts at him.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean yells, and Cas can tell thats what he says, because that's always what he says. He rushes over to the stove to fix the chicken, turning off the burner and rushing to clean up the mess the burnt chicken has left all over the stove and counter. Castiel continues to laugh behind him, until finally Dean finishes cleaning up and turns back to glare half heartedly at Castiel.

"Quit laughing," he grumbles, as if Cas can hear him. Then he steps forward, pulling Cas close again so that their foreheads knock together and they are staring into each other's eyes. Cas grins, eyes crinkling at the corners, and Dean smiles brightly and pecks his lips one more time. "I've missed that smile," he mumbles to himself, hands coming up to brush over Cas's plush lips. He frowns.

"What did you say?" He asks. Dean bites his bottom lip, then slowly lifts his hand and speaks in sign language.

'Nothing. I love you.'

This time, Cas understands exactly what Dean is saying.


End file.
